"An offer must be a clear, unequivocal and direct approach to another party to contract. For this reason, advertisements, catalogues or store flyers are not offers. Nor is a FOR SALE sign on a used car.

"The law calls these invitations to treat; essentially invitations to the general public to make an offer on a particular item. But, even here, there have been exceptions. For example, in a 1856 case, an advertisement of train rates was held to be a valid offer. Much depends on the wording of the invitation."

An invitation to treat is merely an announcement to other that a person is prepared to entertain an offer for a certain thing or service.

The invitation to treat may provide minimal terms of a proposed offer.

"As a general rule, a display of goods at a fixed price in a shop window or on a shelf in a self-service store is an invitation to treat and not an offer. An offer may be made by a prospective buyer. At this stage, the retailer may accept or reject that offer.

"Similar principles would seem to apply where a supplier of goods or services indicates their availability on a website: that is, the offer would seem to come from the customer (eg. when he clicks the appropriate button) and it is then open to the supplier to accept or reject that offer."

Categories & Topics:

If you find an error or omission in Duhaime's Law Dictionary, or if you have suggestion for a legal term, we'd love to hear from you!

LAWimage

Sort By:

The template you are linking to has no template configured yet.

Duhaime Lawisms

How excellent a medley is made when honesty and ability meet in a man of his profession.
Edmund Plowden (1518-1585) on the subject of lawyers.

Expand Navigation

Unless otherwise noted, this article was written by Lloyd Duhaime, Barrister, Solicitor, Attorney and Lawyer (and Notary Public!). It is not intended to be legal advice and you would be foolhardy to rely on it in respect to any specific situation you or an acquaintance may be facing. In addition, the law changes rapidly and sometimes with little notice so from time to time, an article may not be up to date. Therefore, this is merely legal information designed to educate the reader. If you have a real situation, this information will serve as a good springboard to get legal advice from a lawyer.